Crowds (and the wisdom thereof), cognitive surplus, and organizing this mess of information

It demonstrates how dramatically connected we’ve become to one another.

It demonstrates the ways in which the information we give off about ourselves [online] has dramatically increased our social visibility and made it easier for us to find each other but also to be scrutinized in public.

It demonstrates that the old limitations of media have been radically reduced, with much of the power accruing to the former audience.

It demonstrates how a story can go from local to global in a heartbeat.

It demonstrates the ease and speed with which a group can be mobilized for the right kind of cause. But….

Who defines what kind of cause is right?

Me to We Scale of Participatory Culture

We are so natively good at group effort that we often factor groups out of our thinking about the world.

Many jobs that we regard as the province of a single mind actually require a crowd.

Technology enables new kinds of group-forming.

When we change the way we communicate, we change society…

…but the tools aren’t enough. The tools are simply a way of channeling existing motivation (think of Jenkins’ trace back through media)

Evan’s story wouldn’t have worked with JUST the tools. What he did was offer a plausible promise by framing his message in terms big enough to inspire interest, yet achievable enough to inspire confidence.

RHETORIC

By making it easier for groups to self-assemble and for individuals to contribute to group effort without requiring formal management, these tools have radically altered the old limits on the size, sophistication, and scope of unsupervised effort.

These changes will transform the world everywhere groups of people come together to accomplish something, which is to say everywhere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Buyub6vIG3Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-FonWBEb0o

http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html

Crowds and participatory culture mean we live in a world FULL OF INFORMATION. How do we manage it? How do we best organize it?

David Weinberger argues: Everything Is Miscellaneous. And this is good.

If you didn’t do it already, read today’s reading and pay attention to the orders of order AND why the orders of order matter.

Also, do the reading/listening for Thursday and thinking about to what degree you trust crowds and why?